Gift from Heaven
by GregsMadHatter
Summary: After a fatal accident, Dr. Robert Chase is offered one more chance at life, but this time, he has a gift that he can’t comprehend. Very AU. Character Death…in a way.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Gift from Heaven**

**Summary: After a fatal accident, Dr. Robert Chase is offered one more chance at life, but this time, he has a gift that he can't comprehend. Very AU. Character Death…in a way.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own House.**

**A/N: So, I must warn you, this has a religious theme to it, so please don't be offended by this.**

**Chapter 1**

For the past week, Dr. Robert Chase had been working his ass off. There had been a storm rampaging through Jersey, causing multiple car accidents, which kept Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital working 24/7. As the intensivist, Chase was the one that the doctors turned to for help in the ICU. Chase found himself running down the halls to different rooms scattered in the ICU to answer codes. This day was his record. 10 codes and 1 fatality. His legs hurt, his body screamed for sleep and before he knew it, Chase found himself dozing in his boss's office. He barely got 15 minutes of sleep when his pager went off again. Another patient was coding. Just his luck. Chase didn't take a moment to jump from the couch and head to the room. As he walked in, he saw the female patient in v-fib. Grabbing the paddles, he rubbed the gel on the steel and placed them on her chest. "Charging…clear!"

The paddles sent a jet of electricity to her heart, causing her body to spasm. Chase looked at the heart monitor and saw she was still flatlining. "Going again!"

He placed the paddles back on her heart and shouted, "Charging…clear!"

Chase did it over and over and over again. It wasn't until the sixth time that she finally got a pulse again. The nurses quickly left the room, followed by Chase. He was exhausted. He was just about to head back to his boss's office when the dean of medicine, Dr. Lisa Cuddy, stopped him the hall. "What are you still doing here?" she asked.

"I'm on call tonight."

"You've been on call every night this week. Have you gone home AT ALL?"

Chase shook his head. He was too tired to answer her. "Is House keeping you here?"

"There have been several car accidents and the ICU is packed. The doctors have ASKED me to help out around here."

"Well you're barely hanging in. I'm going to tell them I've sent you home. You need to sleep."

As much as Chase wanted to give in, he replied, "I can handle it…"

"That wasn't a request, Dr. Chase. You're going home. You have the rest of tonight and tomorrow off. Get some rest."

Before Chase could counter her, she stormed off to the doctor's lounge. As she walked away, Chase then began to wonder why he was arguing with her in the first place. He was heading to his boss's office to get some sleep and when Cuddy tells him to go home and sleep, he refuses? His brain wasn't functionally properly. He had been up for 48 hours straight surviving off nothing but the coffee the hospital supplied them. His comfy bed and warm bath tub sounded inviting to him and he quickly headed to the parking garage to head home. The rain continued to pour down on the city as Chase managed to get into his car. It was a good thing his house wasn't that far away. He could feel his eyelids starting to get heavy. Turning on the music loud enough to keep him awake, he turned on the engine and slowly pulled out onto the street. As the car gained momentum, the rain came down faster and Chase had to put his windshield wipers on high. The signs were barely visible. After all, it was 1 o'clock in the morning. He continued down the main drag when he noticed he forgot to take the left down to his apartment. Cursing himself, he took the next left and decided to take the back way.

The back way took longer, but worked all the same. After all, it did put him where he wanted to be. All he had to do was the take the back alley between the café and the grocery store and then take another left to get onto his street. The streets were dead. No traffic moving up or down the street. He was all alone on that street that night. He was just passing the first alley when a truck pulled out from the alley and headed straight for Chase's car. The truck couldn't stop in time and T-boned Chase on the driver's side. Chase could feel as his door went crashing into his side as the collision pushed him across the road. Finally, the truck came to a stop a few feet from where Chase's car was. Chase's car continued to slide as finally inertia kicked in and he came to a sudden stop when the car hit the building wall.

The airbag had already inflated and Chase could feel the side effects of a concussion. Blood dripped from a head wound and he could feel a few of his ribs had been broken inward, one of them pushing against his lungs. Breathing became difficult as he tried to get open his car door. However, moving was painful. Both of his legs were trapped beneath the steering wheel. His left arm felt pulled out of his socket, clearly dislocated. As a doctor, Chase knew how to tell what injuries there were and he could tell that there was no way he was making it out of this one alive. He was bleeding internally. He became woozy and nauseous as people began to emerge from the buildings around them. The truck driver jumped from his seat and pulled out his phone. Of course the truck driver was fine, what damage could Chase's little car do to a semi?

Everything became fuzzy. The world began to spin. He was fading. There was nothing he could do. People tried to help get Chase out of his death trap, but it was no use. The car door was jammed in place. It would take the strength of Hercules to pry it from the car. This was how it was going to end. His final moments in life would be stuck in a car after a severe accident. What would his team mates say when he doesn't show up for work tomorrow, but instead, arrives in a gurney? Would it be Cameron or Foreman who would find him? All these thoughts were playing in his mind as he took his final breaths of life.

As he gave into the darkness, he could faintly hear the sound of sirens arriving, the murmur of shocked people, the landings of people jumping from the ambulance, and the sound of someone saying his name loudly in his ears. His final moments and soon, that was all he remembered.

TBC…

**I know, another story, but I know where each of these are heading, so please R&R!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

When Chase opened his eyes, he saw a bright light ahead of him. He could just barely make out the Golden Gates soaring high in front of him in a set of gold clouds. He felt light as a feather and his clothes were replaced with a white satin tunic and white satin pants. As he walked towards the gate barefooted, feeling the fluffiness of the clouds beneath his feet, a man with the similar nature of Morgan Freeman came into view. "Hello, Robert," he smiled.

"Are you God?"

God nodded. "That means I'm dead."

"Not exactly. Your spirit has just left your body. You're in the area between the two lives. The area where you can still go back. Now, normally the gates would open to allow you through, but just as I expected, they did not."

"What does that mean?"

"It's not your time. Many people who die before their time do not enter; therefore they have what you call a near death experience. I'm actually quite glad the gates haven't opened. In fact, I've been meaning to talk to you."

"You wanted to talk…to me?"

"Yes, I've been keeping an eye on you. You're very good at what you do. And you like your job. You like helping people, probably because you tried to help your mother with her alcohol addiction. Helping people has always been something you were good at. Now, I am asking you for your help."

"You want my help?"

"Yes, Robert. You see, I may be all powerful, like you mortals believe, but I can't keep my eye on every person in the world. I've had help in the past, such as Nelson Mandela and Ulysses S. Grant, but sometimes I lose sight of places, such as Rwanda in 1994 or the Holocaust. I've tried very hard, but it seems that even the mightiest person needs help. You don't have to answer just yet, but during the week, you will be faced with some…tests. Tests that will prove whether or not I have made the right decision that you should become one of my guardian angels. You won't know what they will be, but you will know them when you are faced with them. Once each test is complete, I will come and visit you again, and it will be then that you decide whether or not to accept my proposal."

"So, you want me to be a guardian angel?"

"Yes. I have kept my eye on Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, but I have come to the realization that others need my attention. So, I want you to help me keep things working there. It is such a great place and you save so many lives, but I have a feeling that once my back is turned, things will begin to fall apart."

Suddenly, Chase felt as if his weight was returning. Looking down, he saw that his feet were sinking in the clouds. "What's happening?"

"It's time for you to go back. I will be talking with you again real soon. Goodbye, Robert."

And just like that, Chase's feet fell through the clouds and he plummeted back down to Earth, the Golden Gates disappearing from view. As he continued to fall, he began to drift off to darkness.

* * *

The paramedics knelt around the unconscious body that lay before them. A crowd of people stood around the scene in complete shock. After charging up the defibrillator a second time, the paramedic placed it to the doctor's chest and shouted, "CLEAR!"

A jolt of electricity shot through the body and suddenly, the female paramedic who had her hand on Chase's neck cried, "I got a pulse!"

* * *

When House arrived to work that next morning, he didn't find his little ducklings in his outer office. Finding it peculiar, he went to see if Wilson knew where they had gone, only to find that Wilson was not in his own office either. House grew curious and was just walking back towards the elevator when he saw Foreman, Cameron, Wilson and Cuddy standing outside a hospital bedroom in the ICU. With a smirk, he limped through the double doors and approached the group. "Good morning, people!" he smiled cheerfully.

But none of them showed any cheer at that moment. "Alright, clearly I've missed something. Somebody going to tell me what's going on?"

"Like you care," muttered Cameron.

"You're right, I don't care, but I do want to know why my workers are not working."

"Chase was hit by a semi last night. He was dead for over ten minutes until the paramedics brought him back at the scene. According to his file, with the number of injuries he sustained, he should have died. It took the surgeons almost twelve hours for surgery last night," replied Cuddy.

House looked bewildered and finally took a look into the hospital room. Sure enough, their lay the blonde-headed Aussie hooked to a ventilator, IV lines and several monitors. For once, House felt sympathetic towards the young duckling. He had always given Chase a hard time, but it was to teach him. He knew that Chase was a brilliant young mind and had a lot of potential, but House had to push Chase to use it. To see him helpless like that…made House feel like Cameron. Trying to avoid the others noticing, he stated, "At least his hair is still glowing."

"Do you always have to be an ass?" asked Foreman.

Completely ignoring the question, House stated, "What were his injuries?"

"What didn't he sustain? The ER doctor said his insides were a mess. There was severe internal bleeding, a broken rib punctured his lung, he had several broken bones…" said Wilson.

"Isn't it a bit weird that Chase is still breathing after all of that?" interrupted House.

"It's not weird, it's a damn miracle," laughed Foreman.

"Somebody had to have been watching over him," muttered Wilson.

"Yeah, he's a lucky Wombat."

TBC…

**I know, it's not that interesting, but the next few chapters will be a bit more interesting. BTW, the Morgan Freeman thing…I just think he is the IDEAL God, don't you?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

For the next couple of days, Chase remained in an unconscious state, still hooked up to the every machine. Amazingly enough, no cases passed through the office of the diagnostics that served at Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, leaving them with only clinic duty for four hours and nothing for the rest of the day. In order to get away from House, Foreman volunteered to do extra clinic hours or spent his time in the hospital courtyard writing his next journal article. Cameron would spend time in Chase's hospital room, just talking to him or watching to see if he would wake up. House, on the other hand, would hide out in Wilson's office or with coma guy to avoid clinic duty, watch "General Hospital" on his portable TV or head down to the cafeteria and con lunch from Wilson. On the third day, House had successfully got another free lunch from Wilson and was enjoying his victory with his victim. As they sat, devouring their food, Wilson asked, "Have you visited Chase yet?"

"After all these years we've spent together, have you ever once seen me visit a patient because I cared?"

"No, but…"

"You have your answer, you can stop talking now."

"But you can't seriously be unaffected by what happened."

"Yes I can. I'm a cold, heartless person, remember?"

"Chase is your employee and you really don't care that he is in a near fatal car crash?"

"Technically, he was in a FATAL car crash. He was just lucky he survived."

"That's not the point, House. The point is…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, he could be dead and I'd be out a wombat with great hair. Wherever am I going to find another one of those?"

Wilson could hint the sarcasm in House's voice. Before grabbing the rest of his sandwich and going back to his office, he turned to House and said, "Go see him. You'll be glad you did."

House sat and waited for a minute as Wilson left, pondering Wilson's last statement. Why would he go visit the wombat? He doesn't even like to visit his parents for the holidays. And even if he did visit Chase, there goes his reputation. Cameron would never let him live it down. But, then again, if he said he was only in there to turn down the wombat's morphine just to toy with him, then it would seem believable. In fact, that sounded like a good idea. Grabbing his cane, he ditched his tray on the table and headed to the elevator. After riding the metal contraption to the second floor, he limped his way to Chase's room in the ICU. Once he walked through the door, he saw the wombat in the bed still out cold and Cameron fast asleep in the armchair near the door. House smirked to himself and headed to the morphine box. He was just about to open the door with the key when he noticed Chase's eyes flutter. House leaned in close as Chase's eyes fully opened. He just HAD to wake up when he was in the room. _Quick, think of some excuse_ thought House. While removing the breathing tube and mask around his mouth, House said with an evil genius voice, "I've brought someone back from the dead! MUWAHAHA!"

The evil laugh had woken Cameron, who did a double take when she saw Chase starting to sit up. Quickly, she jumped from her seat and ran to his side. "How are you feeling?" she asked, trying to push him back down.

"I…I talked to God," he replied, his voice raspy from the tube.

House and Cameron stared at him with a look of bewilderment. "I thought you didn't believe in God," said House.

"I kind of did. Just because I left seminary school doesn't mean I don't believe in God."

"Ah, the near death experience. Did he tell you that he was going to smite me?" asked House.

"Chase, you must have been dreaming."

"I wasn't! He looked just like Morgan Freeman!"

After staring at him like he was crazy, House burst out laughing. Chase shook his head and laid back down, rolling his eyes. Still laughing, House quickly left with Cameron glaring at him. Once he was gone, Chase said, "You don't believe me."

She spun around and replied, "Chase, you suffered a concussion. You could have been hallucinating. Listen, I have to go do clinic duty. I'll be back to check on you."

And with that, she left. Chase closed his eyes in frustration and when he opened them, he saw God standing next to him. "Morning, Robert."

Chase bolted upright in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to make sure you woke up. And you did. Pain free, might I add."

"That's because I'm on morphine."

"Even morphine can't mend a broken rib. You sat up quickly after getting a broken rib. You should have had a shooting pain in your side."

God was right. Holding his side with confusion, he asked, "But, how…?"

"You just passed test one."

Chase stared at God in confusion. "What do you mean I passed the first test?"

"One test I designed was to test the healing powers. Whenever an angel sustains an injury, they heal more rapidly than a normal human being. All of your injuries you sustained are now gone. Your punctured lung has been healed, your concussion gone; even your dislocated shoulder is mended."

Chase rolled his shoulder, feeling the absence of pain. "When we had our talk up there in heaven, I passed on the powers of an angel to you. These tests are designed to see whether or not your soul accepts them."

"I'm not going to sprout wings, am I?"

God smiled at the Aussie. "No, you won't. That only happens after you pass through the Golden Gates."

"So these…tests are to see whether or not I have powers…how do I know what the next test is and what powers I have?"

"Let your instincts guide you. They'll make sure the test gets completed…or not."

Suddenly, the door opened and Wilson poked his head in. "Chase? Who are you talking to?"

"I was talking to…" but when he turned his head, God was gone. Wilson stared in confusion as Chase replied, "No one."

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. How did you know I was awake?"

"House was laughing about what you said when you woke up. Did you really talk to God?"

With a smile, Chase replied, "Yeah, I did."

"And did he really look like Morgan Freeman?"

Chase nodded. "Amazing."

"You believe me?"

Taking a breath, Wilson replied, "I believe that something did happen during that time when you were technically dead. What it was is up to whatever the patient thinks happened. But, if you need anything, you know where to find me. Get better soon, Chase."

And with that, Chase lay back down and stared at the ceiling. Was he really able to heal rapidly? What else did God give him? When would the next test be? All these thoughts clouded his mind as he lay in his bed, the heart monitor beeping in a steady rhythm that, for some reason, soothed him.

TBC…

**Please R&R**


End file.
